PARIS--L'Oreal SA is ready to buy the stake in the cosmetics giant held by consumer-goods conglomerate Nestle SA, and could rely on bank financing to do so, L'Oreal Chief Executive Jean-Paul Agon said Friday.

"If Nestle one day wants to sell, we are ready," Mr. Agon said. To finance a purchase of the stake, worth EUR23 billion ($28.19 billion), L'Oreal has EUR3 billion in cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet, plus a stake in pharmaceutical company Sanofi SA worth around EUR7.6 billion.

"In case that would not be enough, we've got many love letters from great banks that said they would love to lend us some money," Mr. Agon said.